Arts:Blog

Festival Review: Paris de Nuit *****

If Kander and Ebb did circus, I’d be surprised if it wasn’t
like this. This is not your typical circus cabaret show: Paris De Nuit is
delicate debauchery, a cocktail of seduction, sensitivity, laughter and sorrow.
With his astonishing cast, producer and director Bence Vagi creates delicious
physical imagery of entangled limbs that go on forever, attached to bodies with
the flexibility of a rubber band and the strength of a rugby team.

The show is crafted with precision: one moment we’re in awe
of the exquisite tricks of the performers, and then in a blink we empathise
with their characters. At no point did I think ‘And? So what? Where does this
fit in?’ Slickly knitted together sections lead you seductively through the
streets of Paris to the next encounter, next moment and the next salacious
character.

Each talent is seamlessly woven together and placed
masterfully into a piece of circus theatre, depicting a community of characters
that could reside at the foot of Montmatre in the shadow of the Moulin. The performers’
talents (and oh my god, are they talented) aren’t contained to their
extraordinary individual acts: their acting, comic timing, musicality and energy
as a company is fantastic. They are most definitely a company, not
individuals thrown together in a circus cabaret.

This strong collective extends to the musicians who have
been integrated into the work, again seamlessly, both supporting the ambience
but also throwing in their own flare.

Take me back: I love Paris.

Paris de Nuit
(Recirquel Company Budapest) runs until 27th Aug (not 21st) at
Assembly George Square Gardens at 2030.